Boeing 757

In 2007, Emirati entrepreneur Samman Salameh founded Onyx Airways with the goal of capitalizing on the business class airline craze of the 2000's. The initial plans were to connect London with the US and Middle Eastern cities like Dubai and Abu Dhabi. These plans were put on hold during the 2008 financial crisis, and in 2009 the first aircraft was acquired. On May 4th, 2010, Onyx Airways Flight 1 flew from LHR to JFK.

G-ONYX was the first aircraft acquired by the airline. It had previously flown for Britannia and Thomson Airways before it ended up at the airline. It was fitted with 80 partially lie-flat seats. It flew for Onyx until 2019 when they were replaced by A321LRs.